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Sea Turtle Nesting

Every April through September our beaches provide critical nesting habitat for hundreds of loggerhead sea turtles. Nest counts are showing an alarming decline, but people can safeguard this threatened species on land by keeping our beaches natural: dark, quiet, and sandy (not hardened with seawalls). At sea, the turtles are in danger of drowning in fishing trawls and becoming entangled in "longlines" set in the open-ocean. It's also important to keep plastic trash (especially bags and balloons) out of the water to prevent the needless deaths of sea turtles that mistake them for a favorite food – jellyfish. To see a comparison of sea turtle nesting activity by beach and species please select the "View an interactive graph..." link below.
Learn more about sea turtle monitoring »

Birds

Some common birds in this region that you might see include - Great Blue Heron, Cattle Egret, Great Egret, White Ibis, Brown Pelican, Osprey, Wood Stork, Yellow-Crowned Night Heron, Bald Eagles and the threatened Florida Scrub-jay.

More than 50,000 observers participate each year in this all-day census of early-winter bird populations. The results of their efforts are compiled into the longest running database in ornithology, representing over a century of unbroken data on trends of early-winter bird populations across the Americas. Simply put, the Christmas Bird Count, or "CBC", is citizen science in action.

The table below demonstrates the average number of birds seen per hour of effort put forth to view them. The historic average is the average of the total number of birds seen per hour of effort divided by the number of years listed in the brackets.

Species Name

Listing

Myakka Quadrangle

Sarasota Quadrangle

Venice Quadrangle

2011 - 2012 Results

Historic Average

2011 - 2012 Results

Historic Average

2011 - 2012 Results

Historic Average

American Oystercatcher

SSC

0.04

0.04 (1 yrs)

Bald Eagle

T

0.34

0.34 (1 yrs)

Black Skimmer

SSC

0.34

0.34 (1 yrs)

Brown Pelican

SSC

6.58

6.58 (1 yrs)

Florida Scrub-jay

T

Little Blue Heron

SSC

1.42

1.42 (1 yrs)

Peregrine Falcon

T

0.02

0.02 (1 yrs)

Reddish Egret

SSC

0.04

0.04 (1 yrs)

Snowy Plover

T

0.11

0.11 (1 yrs)

Tricolored Heron

SSC

1.1

1.1 (1 yrs)

White Ibis

SSC

10.56

10.56 (1 yrs)

Wood Stork

E

0.9

0.9 (1 yrs)

* Threatened (T), Endangered (E) and Species of Special Concern (SSC) status as listed by the State of Florida.

Florida's Breeding Bird Atlas

This site provides access to the Florida Breeding Bird Atlas data recorded by volunteers from 1986 - 1991. The surveys occurred in all 67 counties which were divided into 1028, 7.5 minutes topographic quadrangles.
Each quadrangle was further divided into 6 (2 wide by 3 tall) equal-sized blocks of about 10 miles2 of which about 75% (4,866) were surveyed. For each species, a breeding code indicating the "highest" breeding evidence was recorded.

Manatees

The Florida manatee, or sea cow (Trichechus manatus latirostris), a subspecies of the West Indian
manatee (Trichechus manatus), is a large, herbivorous, aquatic mammal that can be found in the shallow
coastal waters, rivers, and springs of Florida and adjoining states. These gentle creatures are endangered
throughout their range. High annual mortality, primarily associated with human activity, as well as a low
reproductive rate and loss of habitat continue to keep the number of manatees low and threaten the
species' future.
Learn more about manatees »

View Bay-Specific Manatee Data

Manatee information is included on each of the bay Fish and Wildlife pages. Select a bay from the drop-down below to navigate to a bay page.

Commercial Fisheries Landings in Florida

Commercial fisheries include any species that are harvested and sold for human consumption, for medical use, in aquarium or souvenir trades, or for any other for-profit purpose. The state of Florida collects data from commercial harvesters and dealers to generate statistics on the types of species and quantities landed as well as the size, weight, and age distribution of harvested species.

Marine Recreational Fisheries Statistics Survey

The Marine Recreational Fisheries Statistics Survey (MRFSS) was developed by the
National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to monitor recreational fisheries. The MRFSS
is designed to collect a variety of data in order to estimate catch, harvest, and
fishing effort.

Other Fisheries Information

The Tampa Bay coast supports a wide array of fish and crustaceans such as Red Drum, Spotted Seatrout, Snook, Flounder, Blue Crab, Pompano, Mullet, Stone Crab and Shrimp. More than 80 percent of the fish we catch for food or fun depend on estuaries for all or part of their lives. Learn more about fisheries. »

Species Information for Common Fish Caught on Florida's West Coast

Information from FWRI about commercially and recreational important finfish. Includes: stock assessments, species accounts, regulations, and other research studies.